The Texas Longhorns (27-4) used a 3-0 sweep (25-19, 25-22, 25-14) of No. 6 national seed Southern California (30-6) in the NCAA Volleyball Championship Regional Final Saturday night in Austin to punch a ticket to one of two national semifinal matches next Thursday in Louisville, Ky.

Texas will face Michigan at 6 p.m. CT. National semifinal and national championship action will be held at the KFC YUM! Center and telecast on ESPN2/ESPN3. The other semifinal match will feature No. 1 national seed Penn State against No. 5 national seed Oregon.

This is the 11th time a Big 12 squad has advanced to the national semifinals, including the fourth time for Texas as a member of the league and eighth time in program history. UT also made appearances from 2008-10, in 1995 and from 1986-88. The Longhorns have played in three championship matches, winning the 1988 title and have most recently appeared in the final in 2009.

This is the first time since 2010 a Big 12 team will be making an appearance in the national semifinals. Overall, the league has advanced four teams to the championship match (2000, ‘05, ‘06, ‘09), with Nebraska claiming the title as members of the Conference in 2000 and ‘06.

The Big 12 is 76-23 in NCAA first round action, 45-34 in second round play, 25-20 in regional semifinals, 11-14 in regional finals and 163-99 overall. Additionally, the league is 4-6 in national semifinal matches and 2-2 in championship matches.

Texas has been ranked in the top 10 all season and claimed its sixth Big 12 title this year, finishing the conference season with a 15-1 record. The Longhorns are led by 2012 Big 12 Player of the Year Haley Eckerman and 2011 Big 12 Player of the Year Bailey Webster along with head coach Jerritt Elliott, who is in his 12th season at Texas. Texas has lost just one set in four NCAA postseason matches this season. The Longhorns finsihed 2012 leading the league in hitting percentage, opponents hitting percentage and blocks.